Monday, 21 November 2011

A Buffy Season: 8: Buffy In Pain, Show Better

... Buffy Not In Pain, Show Not As Good

Often closely paired to the romantic episode, the heartache episode. Buffy is urban fantasy superhero horror comedy drama, and here's the drama.

Loss, romantic pain, the crushing burden of responsibility, the essential meaninglessness of existence... These can be woven into regular episodes and dealt with somewhat obliquely, or put front and centre for memorable results if the director and players are up for it. Some folks are just here for the lighthearted monster-hunting after all. Personally I can watch Passion again with relatively little wincing when running through the series, but I pause before putting on The Body and don't always go through with it.

So big emotional episodes are generally talk-to-your-players territory, but this can ruin surprise and immersion for some players. You can crank up the drama and angst for some at the table even if not everyone is keen, as long as the rest of the players don't mind being close to the fireworks.

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Example: Haunted

While investigating a supposed haunted house, Billie meets the perfect guy... sixty years after he died.